The Void

...but it was poorly fleshed out. The writers of the movie obviously had a technical background, because they were pretty close to reality about black hole physics. And the idea about what could possibly happen if someone created a black hole right on earth, is a very fascinating question. Unfortunately, using this idea as the basis for a movie plot by itself, doesn't seem to be enough, so they threw in a romance, a bunch of murders, etc., etc.

I'd love to see this idea resurrected in some other, higher-budget movie, one day. But then in such a movie they may get the scientific principles wrong, but come up with better romances and political murders.

There's no black hole sucking down a city street as depicted on the video box cover, so let's dismiss that from the start. There's something sort of like that in the floor of a laboratory.

As it starts, a particle accelerator lab is doing an experiment that its chief does not approve of, but which the physicist played by Malcolm McDowell has somehow pulled rank and gotten through - though he is 5,000 miles away. Lucky for him he wasn't there, too, since everybody dies.

Years later, he's up to the same thing, expecting it to work this time (he's actually on site). The daughter of the chief who died in the previous experiment hopes to find proof of what happened, and learns it's about to happen again, only worse.

It's not a bad movie, though overlong. I thought on its apparent budget it did make good use of special effects. Not worth seeking out, though, unless you're a particular fan of any of the lead actors.

I went out to the video store to rent a movie - any movie - featuring Amanda Tapping (I'm sort of a fan from the Stargate series). I found this one. It's not a bad movie, especially if you enjoy Ms. Tapping's work. My roomate commented that "they needed a bigger budget" and I agree - some of the effects were a little cheap. Considering, however, that the actors are not HUGE stars and that it seems to be a lower budget film, it was very interesting. The premise about a black hole was fascinating to me (though my roomate, the astrophysics major, seems to think it sounds a little unsound - she hasn't watched it, though) and it was fun to watch Ms. Tapping in another role. Granted, it seemed like a reincarnation of Sam Carter from Stargate - still beautiful and brainy but without the guns and aliens - but all in all it was interesting to see and worth the money I paid to rent the DVD. The Void reminded me of an extended episode of Andromeda/Stargate placed in an alternate universe without the aliens. Or the stargate. Or a lot of guns. But the same "feel" to the show. Sounds odd, I know. I won't list The Void as one of my top five movies but I will say that it was very entertaining and a great study break.

I watched this movie only because Amanda Tapping was cast in it. Although she did show great acting skill and proved beyond a doubt that she is NOT a bimbo, I was disappointed by the obvious use of a body double for the brief nude scenes. I hope Amanda will get an opportunity to star in a higher budget movie soon and that she will not be so shy about nudity. From a scientific standpoint, this was a plausible movie. From a point of reality it is a bit foolish. For example, when they are both tied to chairs and expecting to be executed, the dialogue and behavior seemed unreal. Amanda's character showed conviction and perseverance to show the data error, but then surrendered so easily when captured. Just not consistent behavior for the character. This movie is a must see for all Star gate fans, as the movie does prove Amanda's acting skills.

Oh, huh, sorry you woke me up.

This movie sucked on all levels. If you went by the cover - you were turned down, if you went by the ideas - you were turned down, and if you went by the science - you were turned down.

Great, make a movie about black holes and then don't really show one until the final minutes of the movie and then it's nothing but a whole in the wall sucking up everything in the room.

If this movie had a bigger budget, maybe it would of been a lot more fun. Ms. Tapping was excellent, Adrian Paul was certainly very cute and funny in this movie. He had a lot of little one liners that I thought were just funny.

Other than those two, the black hole effects were yawnnnnsish. I saw a better black hole in the movie black hole with Max Von Snydow.